Rotary engine



(No Model.) sheets-Sheet v1.

' T. 8U J. W. WILB'RAHAM.

ROTARY ENGINE.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet3.

T. 8v J. W. WILBRAHAM.

ROTARY ENGINE.

110.27818... Patented FebZOlmB.

(No Model.) ts-Sheet 4.

, 4Shee T. & J. W. WILBRAHAM.

ROTARY ENGINE.

No. 272,818. atented Feb.20.1883.

UNITED STA-Tes PATENT Ormea.

THOMAS WILBRAHAM AND JOHN W. VILBRAHAM, OF PHILADELPHIA, PA., 'ASSIGNORS TO THEMSELVES AND JAMES WILBRAHAM, OF SAME PLACE.

ROTARY ENGINE..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 272,818, dated February 20, 1883. Application led September 16, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS WILBRAHAM and JOHN W. WILBRAHAM, both citizens of the United States, and residents ot' Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain I mprovements in Rotary Engines, of which the following is a specilication.

Our invention consists of a rotary engine inA which a winged roller and two recessed rollers, all of the said rollers being of the same diameter and geared together, are combined with a casing having seats or bearings for the rollers, an inlet for the steam, and an outlet for the exhaust, all substantially as described hereinal'ter.

Our inventionV further consists of the combination of the system of rollers and the casing4 with a valve for preventing unnecessary Waste ot' steam.

ln the accompanying drawings, Figure l, Sheet 1, is a front view of our improved rotary engine; Fig. 2, Sheet 2, a longitudinal vertical section; Fig. 3, Sheet 3, a transverse vertical section on the line l 2, Fig. l; Fig. 4, a transverse vertical section on the line34, Fig. 1; and Figs. 5, 6, and 7, Sheet 4, diagrams illustrating` the operation of our invention.

A is the base-plate ofthe engine, and B the casing forming the chamber, within which the winged roller D and recessed rollers E and F revolve, this casing, which is preferably cast in one piece with the base, being furnished at one end with a cover, G, and at the opposite end with a cover, G', through stuting-boxes, on which covers pass thejournals ot' the several rollers, the said journals heilig geared together by cog-wheels H, so that all three rollers, which are of the same diameter, will revolve at the same speed.

/Vithin the casing B are three segmental seats, h, t', and j, the first for the wiugsff of the roller D, the second for the roller E, and the third for the roller F. The extentot' these seats, the points where they terminate, and their relation to each other and to the several rollers will be readily understood without description by referring to Fig. 4. While the wings of' the roller D and the rollers E and F revolve in contact with their respective seats, and the ends ot' the several rollers are in conwinged roller may bear hard enough against 6o the other rollers to steam between them.

Attached to or forming part ofthe casing B is a steam-chest, b, communicating -with the prevent the passage ot steam-space of a boiler, and 4this steam-chest 65 contains a valve, d, adapted to a valve-seat in which are two ports communicating through a passage, c, with the interior ot' the casing B, the latter having an outlet, 7c, for the exhaust.

Before we describe the detailed construction 7o ot'other parts of the engine it will be woll to explain the operation ofthe rollers in the casing, reference being had to Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7. Disoarding the valve for the time being,

and supposing that there is a free entrance to the casing through the passage c for the steam, the latter, cut oft', as it is, from the outlet', must, when the parts are as shown in Fig. 4, exert its pressure ou the wingf ofthe roller D and cause the latter to turn in the direction of its So arrow, and the other rollers must revolve in the directions pointed out. When the roll-ers have completed each one-eighth ot' a revolution they will bein the position shown in Fig.

5, the steam still acting on the wingj", for all avenues to the outlet are still closed. In Fig. 6 the rollers have each completed onefourth of a revolution and in Fig. 7 threeeighths of a revolution, the steam continuing to act on the wingf until the latter in the casing, and the other the steam-inlet, when the steam temporarily trapped in the space above the roller D will be exhausted, and steam from the valve-chest will act on the wingf. During the rotation ot' the rollers one ot' the recesses m in each ot' the rollers E and F always presents itseltfor the reception of that wing ofthe roller D which has to pass either ot' the said rollers E or F, and,

as willk be seen by reference to the diagrams roo passes the point a' 9o \ving,f, has passed y on Sheet 4, these recesses m do not prevent l such confinement of the steam as will cause it to act on one or other of the wings ofthe roller D. The engine will thus be driven without the aid ofthe valve; but the latter is always preferred as a means of preventing waste ot steam We prefer to so construct and so operate the valve that steam will be admitted to the passage e just as one of the wings ot' the roller D has passed the outlet of said passage and to cut od' the steam when the roller has made from one-third to onehalf of a revolution.

For facility of manufacture the roller D is made in two parts-namely, the shaft a and tube 19, on which are the Wingsff', and which is secured to the shaft. IThis shaft a is the drivingshaft of the engine, and passes in one direction through a stufng-box, q, on the cover G, and through a bearing, l, through which also pass thejournals at one end of the lower rollers, and thejournals of all the rollers being geared together by the cog-wheels H, as before remarked. Another bearing, I', receives the oppositejournals of the lower rollers and the opposite end of the shaft n. These bearings serve to relie-ve the stut'ng-box bearings from severe duty, tend to maintain the three rollers in their proper relative position, and insure general steadiness in the action ol' the engine. The bearings are far enough from the covers ot the casing to permit the withdrawal of the stufng-hoxes, and the bearings I I' may be either cast one on each cover, or they may be secured thereto or to the base of the engine. In the present instance a bearingV for the three journals is cast on each cover, the connection between which and the bearing is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3.

The valve is operated by an eccentric, J, on the driving-shaft, through the medium of the eccentric-rod K, arm M, rock-shaft L, and arm N, the latter being connected to the valvespindle. It should be understood, however, that We do not desire to restrict ourselves to any specific kind of valve, or to the mechanism t'or actuating the same, as different kinds of valves and different operating appliances will readily suggest themselves to expert engineers.

e claim as our invention- 1. The combination, in a rotary steam-engine, cf the roller D and its two wings, the two rollers E and F. each having two recesses, and all the rollers being geared together, with a casing` having one segmental seat or bearin g, h, for both Wings, and bearings for the said rollers E and F, with which the said wings are always free from contact, all substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, in a rotary engine, of the winged roller D, the two recessed rollers E and F, and the casing B, having seats for the several rollers, with a valve for regulating the admission of steam to the casing, and automatic mechanism for operating the valve, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof We have signed our names to this specilcation in the presence ot' two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS WILBRAHAM. JOHN V. VVILBRAHAM.

Witnesses HARRY DRURY, HARRY SMITH. 

